After an aide to Nawaz Sharif (photo), the leader of the PML-N party in the government, said that it was prepared to pull out, Pakistan’s coalition government is under pressure to settle its dispute over reinstating the judges that have been sacked by Pervez Musharraf, the country’s former president who quit last week. (more…)

Hailed as a “distinguished leader” by Barack Obama, the US Democratic candidate for the presidency, Joe Biden, Delaware senator, has officially been introduce as the candidate’s vice-presidential running mate.

On Saturday, at a rally in his state of Illinois (photo, from bbc.co.uk), Mr Obama told a cheering 35 000-strong crowd : “I searched for a leader who is ready to step in and be president.(more…)

An investigation has been instigated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), into the ages of several Chinese gold-medal-winning gymnasts. In order to confirm that five gymnasts were old enough to compete, China has been asked to hand over extra documents.(more…)

Around the disputed South Ossetia region, a “buffer zone” is being fortifyed by Russian troops (photo, fromaljazeera.net), with eight military posts and a ban on Georgian aircraft, said a senior Russian commander. (more…)

Russian officials’ comments, about Poland’s accepting a US missile defence base exposing the country to attack, have been dismissed by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (photo, from telegraph.co.uk) who said that such comments “border on the bizarre”. (more…)

China is planning to expand services which are improving the Himalayan region’s economy according to the government. In and around Tibet, the country is planning to build six new railway lines, despite critics complaining about the threat that it pose to Tibetan culture. (more…)